A drone that was helping Speedway police locate a missing person was instrumental in tracking down someone else, who, for some unknown reason, didn't want to be found by law enforcement.

The drone also may have helped save his life.

Wayne Township Fire officials told Fox59 that they were using their equipment, otherwise known as an unmanned aerial vehicle, to assist in locating an 11-year-old girl — she's since been found and is safe — Monday night.

While flying and filming using heat vision, their camera picked up three men walking near an apartment building authorities were searching. At that point, one of them fled the scene.

The drone followed the man as he reached the shoreline of rapidly flowing Eagle Creek. Despite the clear danger, he lept right into the water. That's when things took a turn for the worse.

"They were actually a couple points (when) he was struggling and went under the water and I saw him disappear," Wayne Township Fire Captain Mike Pruitt told the station.

Speedway police responded to the water's edge and were able to pull the man out. They identified him as Larry Whitaker, and to their surprise, Pruitt said authorities couldn't find a warrant for his arrest.

"We don't know why he chose to flee, but it could have caused him his life," Pruitt said.

That doesn't mean Whitaker was free of charges. Police arrested him on one count of resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor in Indiana.

You can watch the whole thing unfold in Wayne Township Fire's video here:

Nate Chute is a producer with IndyStar. Follow him on Twitter at @nchute.